I'd never seen this review before. Granted, it's nearly 10 years old. Goodness knows I'd hate to be held accountable for every brain spasm that found its way into print with my byline on it, especially if said spasms occurred almost a decade ago. Still, it's nevertheless a bit shocking to read such a snarkily dismissive review of a classic module such as this.

Addendum: It's been suggested that the original review was a joke. The review does carry the tag "Comedy," so it's possible and I sincerely hope it is. If anyone can shed light on this topic, I'd appreciate it.

I challenged Mearls about this in March of 2007. I don't remember everything he said, and it seems now lost both to ENworld and Google (I get a result, but the cache doesn't show up).

I don't recall it being discussed in terms of a joke. I think that maybe his opinion about it changed over time. At least, that's the impression I came away with... and I definitely came away thinking that Mearls would be worth listening to in the future.

Sorry I'm so fuzzy on the details. I don't know if he has done a 180 on his view of it or not... I certainly allow for people to reverse themselves to whatever degree in light of new discoveries or realizations.

As I said, I certainly wouldn't want to be held to something I'd written nearly 10 years ago, so I don't think it necessarily says anything about Mike Mearls in 2008. A lot depends on whether he'd disavow what he'd written or qualify it in some way or whether he'd say he stood by what he wrote.

Its just a parody of the reviews. This guy (like his writing or not) is trying to say that one of most universally appreciated adventures could even get stabbed there. The parody gets a little lost in trying to visualize that but its still obviously a parody.

Nor mine. Humor often doesn't translate well in written form, particularly years after it was written, so it may be that, in context, this thing makes perfect sense and it may include lots of sly references to then-contemporary jokes and commentary. If so, it's hard to tell.

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